SPCA warns of dangers to cats in high rise buildings

Three-month old Roger Moore is expected to make a full recovery. (BC SPCA)

Cats might be said to have nine lives but they shouldn’t be allowed near the edges of any high buildings, according to the SPCA.

The animal protection organization issued the warning after several cats were brought in with injuries resulting from falling or jumping off of balconies.

“At the Vancouver shelter we’ve had four cats brought to us in two weeks alone who were seriously injured after jumping or falling from highrise balconies,” says Jodi Dunlop, manager of the Vancouver SPCA Branch. “Two of the cats were in such extreme distress with multiple injuries that we couldn’t save them.”

One kitten was a little bit luckier: Roger Moore, a a three-month-old Himalayan kitten, survived a fall from a 26-storey building. The James Bond namesake ended up with a broken front leg and injured vertebrates but is expected to make a full recovery.

Dunlop urged cat owners to take precautions if they don’t live on the ground floor.

“People assume cats have wonderful balance, but all it takes is an unexpected gust of wind or a sudden noise to spook a cat for a potentially fatal fall to occur,” she said. “There are a variety of ways that landlords and strata councils allow this safeguarding to be done and we urge all cat guardians whose pets may be in danger to take steps to prevent a tragedy.”